A group of social workers and educators from the Ukraine taste some bread made by students in the cooking class at North Valleys High on Monday. The group, which is part of the International Visitor Leadership Program, was invited to become acquainted with American practices of providing social services to youth. Left to right is Volodymyer Nay, Nadiia Lakymiv, Lelyzaueta Onyshchenko and Oksana Vozniuk. / RGJ
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- Local Life
In the Ukraine, about 90 percent of the students attend school regularly, according to statistics compiled by UNICEF.
Dropouts are not acceptable. Students are required to wear uniforms in most cases. And truancy: If you don't want to be picked up by police and returned home to your parents or to a detention center, go to class.
So what did a group of Ukrainian educators and youth social service workers stand to gain from a visit to Washoe County schools Monday?
"You have youth services outreach families and counseling for domestic violence," said Nataliya Yeremenko, the head of social services in Kreminna is the Ukrainian state of Lahansk.
She spoke through U.S. state department interpreter Alex Tsiovkh, who also is professor at the University of Kansas.
"We want to see and hear the best practices of what people, agencies and services in the United States do with these issues you face here in the United States and adopt them back home, and to take those best practices and adapt them," Yeremenko said.
Yeremenko and a handful of her colleagues visited a about four campuses Monday, including North Valleys High School, where Principal Jeana Curtis, vice principal Josh Reddig and school district police Chief Mike Mieras took them on a tour of classrooms.
Prior to the visit, Curtis and Reddig talked about the school's policy Project Respect which emphasis "respect, responsibility, loyalty, honesty and courage everywhere on campus."
Reddig said since 2008 when the program -- culled from input by administration, teachers, staff and students at the school -- was implemented, behavioral referrals to the office have declined.
He said teachers use enrichment periods at the school, also reserved for tutoring and other activities, to remind students of these expectations.
The contingent of Ukrainian visitors got to witness the policy in effect in various classrooms.
"We've had many interesting, positive and pleasant impressions because we've been able to communicate and exchange ideas with new people," Yeremenko said.
"We've learned many cultural traditions that differ from those we have in the Ukraine, so we are able to better characterize people in the United States."
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